


Matters of Trust

by loveydoveyecstasy



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fix It Fic, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 18:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveydoveyecstasy/pseuds/loveydoveyecstasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when he learned to trust again, Alex lost the only person who mattered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matters of Trust

**Author's Note:**

> There's not enough Alex/Darwin fic in this fandom, so I thought I'd add something to it. Fix-it fic because DARWIN NEVER DIED, OKAY?! Inspired by a rewatch of XMFC at midnight last night.

Alex doesn’t trust people.

It’s a survival thing. Once his brother had been separated from him, he learned not to trust the people at social services, not to trust any of the foster families he was placed with, and certainly not to trust any adults.

He doesn’t even really trust kids his own age, as he learned very quickly that they would run and tell everyone they could about the kid who shoots hula-hoop beams and will punch your face in if you’re not careful.

So when the two men come to his jail cell and offer him a home, a place among people like himself, he almost doesn’t believe them. It’s too good to be true. But then the tall, scary looking one makes him stand up by his belt buckle, and the shorter one talks to him in his mind, and Alex decides to say yes. Anything is better than prison, after all.

It’s weird, being with people his own age who’re freaks like him. Except they don’t really see it that way. Raven is frustrated with having to hide, wants to break free and be her natural self all the time. She embraces all mutations, begs to see everyone else’s. She laughs and claps in delight after each display of powers, even after Alex destroys the statue in the CIA compound. Angel doesn’t talk, and Alex understands her silence. She looks like she lived a hard life too. Sean laughs and cracks jokes, putting everyone at ease surprisingly quickly. Hank embodies everything Alex has ever wanted—intelligence, money, respect—and so he hates him. Picks on him. Shows his jealousy in the best way he knows how to—insults and snide remarks.

Darwin is another story.

He doesn’t know what it is about Darwin, but something about him puts Alex at ease. It confuses him, at first, the way he wants to open up to Darwin, wants to tell him all about how much he misses his brother and his family and how lonely he’s been his entire life. He wants to trust Darwin.

But he doesn’t say any of those things. They play pinball and tease each other, an easy banter Alex hasn’t found with anyone else before. He can let his guard down around Darwin, and he can tell that Darwin senses it. The beauty of Darwin, Alex thinks, is that he doesn’t say a word.

It’s why Darwin’s death hits him so hard. He has to watch the one person he’d begun to trust, the one person he’d built a rapport with so quickly, be blown to pieces in front of his eyes. All because of him.

Alex vows to avenge him right then and there, some way, somehow.

He spends the next few months training with the Professor and Magneto—he can’t bring himself to call them by their first names—and doing his best to master his power so that he can take down the man who took Darwin from him.

Later, much later—after the beach and Shaw’s destruction—when they all return to the mansion together, battered and bruised, they are shocked to find Darwin sitting on the front porch, leaning against the doorway with his eyes closed.

He looks like hell.

Alex’s heart skips a beat when he sees Darwin curled up on their front porch, doesn’t know what to say or do, until Raven gasps and Angel drops down in front of him, reaching out to touch his arm. He stirs at the light touch, opening those gorgeous brown eyes of his and stares at her. A smile is slow to spread across his face, and everyone sighs with relief at the sight of it.

“Hey guys,” he says, voice raspy and soft, sounding long unused. “Sorry for taking so long to get back.”

There are so many questions he wants to ask, so many things he wants to say. But he can’t find his voice, and by that point, the Professor is shooing everyone away and instructing the newly recruited Azazel to take Darwin up to one of the bedrooms and sending everyone else to get some rest while he takes care of Darwin. Alex locks eyes with Darwin when Azazel lifts him up to take him to the bedroom, and Alex knows that Darwin understands.

Darwin always understands.

The Professor doesn’t let anyone into Darwin’s room at first, insisting that he needs his rest, has obviously been through a lot, but Alex doesn’t listen. Alex waits for the right moment before slipping into Darwin’s room. Once he’s there, however, he doesn’t know quite what to do. Darwin is sleeping, and his room is mostly bare, so all that’s left to do is wait.

Alex takes up a spot beside Darwin’s bed, and waits. He’s there almost a full day before the Professor comes and brings him food. He doesn’t say a word, just sets the tray on the desk beside Alex, studies Darwin for a moment, then rests his hand on Alex’s shoulder and gives a gentle squeeze before leaving.

Alex eats the food slowly, not really tasting any of it, staring at the wall in an unfocused manner. He thinks of all the things he wants to tell Darwin, all of the things he wants to ask him. But most of all, he thinks about how he wants to beg for Darwin’s forgiveness.

“Alex.”

It’s soft, voice still rough and raw from putting himself back together. Alex’s head whips around and he stares at Darwin, who’s staring back at him, smiling that same easy smile that had won Alex over so quickly.

“You’re—“

“Yeah. I am.”

“I—I couldn’t—“

“Shh.” Darwin shushes Alex, and Alex falls silent, staring at him in anticipation. “Talk later. I’m hungry, man.”

It’s all Alex can do not to laugh outright. Of course Darwin knew how much Alex wanted to talk, and how much he was dreading talking with him. Of course he distracted Alex so he could have more time to think.

“I’ll go get the Professor.”

Darwin smiles at him, and Alex’s heart skips a beat. He leaves the room long enough to find the Professor, puttering around in the kitchen. He tells him Darwin is up, asks him not to say anything just yet, and gets his help making soup and tea for Darwin. They carry the tray up to the room together, and the Professor chatters away at Darwin, promising him a discussion later on and firing off questions he’ll want to discuss and tests he wants to run now that he’s seen the full extent of Darwin’s mutation. Darwin handles it all with practiced ease, nodding and agreeing while eating his soup before the Professor finally leaves, and Alex is left to stare at Darwin some more.

The silence is easy, comfortable almost. Darwin finishes his soup and his tea, and Alex clears away his tray before coming to stand beside Darwin’s bed. And Darwin, who has always understood, who has always just gotten Alex without much effort, reaches out and curls his hand around Alex’s wrist.

That’s all the encouragement Alex needs. The words don’t come tumbling out like he had expected them to. In fact, they don’t come at all. He says nothing as he climbs onto the bed and lies down beside Darwin, curling himself around the other boy and holds him close. Darwin sighs and tucks his arm around Alex’s shoulders, holding him close and keeping him safe, protecting him in a way Alex hadn’t been able to protect him.

And so that’s how the Professor finds them, tangled together, with Alex sleeping soundly for the first time since Darwin’s “death.” He doesn’t say a word, simply backs out of the room and leaves them in peace, knowing that their dynamic is about to change completely.

~~~

Years down the road, the two are still together and Darwin still understands Alex without even trying. Years later, and Alex has learned how to trust again.

Years later, and Alex is finally, truly happy. 


End file.
